Central Piedmont Honors Leon Levine
April 6, 2023Central Piedmont Community College celebrates, honors, and remembers the life of Leon Levine, who died April 5, 2023, at age 85.
At age 22, Levine started the first Family Dollar store on Central Avenue in Charlotte, and built the company on the value of customer service, expanding to thousands of stores and nationwide success. In 1980, Levine, along with his wife Sandra, turned his attention to philanthropic efforts through the Leon Levine Foundation.
Levine's life and legacy in our Charlotte community was one of great philanthropy to education, healthcare, Jewish families, and children, among many other entities bearing their name. At Central Piedmont, the 2002 gift from the Levines was the largest the college had received to date, prompting a campus to be renamed in their honor.
Their generosity did not stop there, as Levine Campus continued to expand, student scholarships were endowed, and Central Campus dedicated two more buildings: the Levine Information Technology building, and most recently, the Leon Levine Health Sciences Center. The Levine Health Sciences Center creates state-of-the-art learning environments with hospital simulations and virtual anatomy classrooms, and is the home base to Central Piedmont's newest healthcare programs.
Levine's legacy lives on, not just in the buildings, but in the lives forever changed by education, as students become healthcare professionals and leaders in our region. We honor Levine for the positive impact he made through the entire Charlotte community, and to all the students supported at Central Piedmont through his decades of generosity.
Nov. 2002: South Campus renamed and dedicated as Levine Campus
Sept. 2004: Levine II opened
Nov. 2014: Levine Information Technology building dedicated at Central Campus
Jan. 2017: Levine III opened
Oct. 2021: Leon Levine Health Sciences building opened and dedicated at Central Campus
Central Piedmont Remembers the Life & Legacy of Dale F. Halton
March 22, 2023Central Piedmont Community College celebrates and honors the life of Dale F. Halton, who died yesterday, March 21, 2023 at age 85. Halton was known for being the trailblazing CEO of Charlotte's Pepsi Bottling Company, starting in 1981, at a time when few women held the title.
Halton's life and legacy in our Charlotte community was one she dedicated to elevating others, and she gave philanthropically to many different efforts to support education. She is the namesake of the Halton Theater, a 1,020 seat opera house-styled venue located at Central Piedmont's Central Campus.
Halton believed in making opportunities for the marginalized, and inviting others to the table for sharing opportunities. "I think part of my philosophy is, the more you have, the more responsibility you have to help others, and that's where my giving really comes from," said Halton.
We honor Halton for the legacy she leaves at Central Piedmont and many of Charlotte's educational institutions, and for the countless students who have benefited from her making room at her own table.